Football Team Needed a Player, and a 5-Foot-2 Girl Stepped Up

posted by John Johnson -
1 week ago

ESPN has a lengthy feature on a high school football team in Texas, but Friday Night Lights this isn't.

The story is about a team in tiny Harrold, Texas, where the schools are so small they play a six-man version of the game on a shorter field. Players often line up on both offense and defense the entire game.

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As it turns out, Harrold nearly had to cancel its season when a player left the school just as practice camp was about to start. The coach, with only five players on his squad, walked through the school gym one day and jokingly asked any of the girls on the volleyball team if they wanted to play. Much to his surprise, he got a taker in Olivia Perez, who had only a superficial knowledge of the game. But one of her best friends was on the football team, and she decided to play, for him. He, in turn, wanted to play for his father.